Internet of Things (IoT)

A computer network, as commonly understood, is a network of computers: laptops, desktops, servers and portable devices such as tablets, smartphones and smartwatches, connected by wire or wirelessly, communicating over the Internet or a LAN. The Internet of Things begins with a simple but far-reaching question — what if the ordinary objects around us joined that same network? What if the bulbs, the fans and the refrigerator could also connect, exchange information with one another, and be reached by us through a computer or smartphone?

That question leads to the definition. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices that carry embedded hardware and software enabling them to communicate — to connect and exchange data — with other devices on the same network. The word "things" is deliberate: membership of the network is no longer restricted to computers. Any object fitted with the right electronics and program logic can participate.

The raw material for this network already exists in a typical household. Many domestic devices today contain advanced hardware — microcontrollers — together with software. What holds them back is not capability but isolation:

• Each device currently works alone, cut off from the others.
• Each needs maximum human intervention — a person must supply the operational directions and the input data for every device separately.

IoT is the move from that isolation to collaboration. It aims to bring these devices together so that they work in cooperation, assist one another, and form an intelligent network of things. Instead of a house full of individually operated gadgets, the devices themselves share information and coordinate.

The practical pay-off is remote access and control. Once devices such as a microwave oven, an air conditioner, a door lock or a CCTV camera are enabled to connect to the Internet, they can be reached and operated on-the-go from a smartphone. The owner no longer needs to be standing in front of a device to command it; the network carries the command instead.

Two ideas from this section are worth holding onto as the chapter proceeds: …